IMPROVING HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFETHROUGH INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

Current research projects include:

This ongoing longitudinal project administered by the IOA is following behavioral, psychological, social,
and biological aging of U.S. residents between ages 25 and 85.
This major study is funded by the National Institute
on Aging and involves researchers from many universities throughout the U.S. Originated
in 1995 with 7000 respondents, MIDUS was one of the first large-scale studies to link psychosocial
and behavioral factors to health, including a comprehensive array of biological
and neurological assessments. The MIDUS data are publicly available and are
used by scientists from around the world to understand pathways to healthy and
unhealthy aging. See the MIDUS website for information about accessing the public data, for a database of academic publications that have used MIDUS data, and for MIDUS newsletters that outline some of the research results for the general public.
MIDUS is led by Carol Ryff, Ph.D., Director of the Institute on Aging.

Osteoporosis was once thought to be an inevitable result of getting old.
However, it is now recognized to be a treatable disease that can often be
prevented. It affects about 20-25 million Americans and is more common in
women. Approximately 50% of Caucasian women and 25% of Caucasian men will
have an osteoporotic fracture sometime during their life. Treatment related
to these fractures costs approximately $14 billion annually in the United
States; a cost projected to exceed $60 billion by the year 2030. Studies
are being conducted to evaluate ways to improve diagnosis and treatment
and to assess the role that nutrition may play in the development, treatment,
and prevention of osteoporosis. This program is led by Neil Binkley, M.D.,
Associate Director of the Institute on Aging.

IOA has over 75 faculty affiliates in 30 academic departments at the UW-Madison, who study diverse aspects of the aging process. Click for information about their research listed by affiliate name or by research topic.

The School of Medicine and Public Health maintains a video library that includes lectures by many of our affiliates. See a list of available videos by presenter or by category.